Under The Ocean Blue
by MadameStarheart
Summary: Far away from the shores of Italy, there lives the Sea King, Aurelius, who has two grandsons named Feliciano and Lovino. Feliciano is the younger, naive brother, while Lovino acts as the protective older brother. But no one could have foreseen what would happen to Feliciano, not even his own brother... Mertalia AU, Prussia x Italy. I own nothing. Based off The Little Mermaid
1. Prologue

_Far away from the shores of the grand nation Italy, in the Mediterranean Sea, there lived the Sea King, Aurelius. He had two grandsons that were the light of his life, named Feliciano and Lovino. Feliciano was the younger of the two, adored by the kingdom and famous for his singing, while Lovino was older, and next in line for the throne, as their parents had died long ago. But like all the residents of the underwater kingdom, they had no feet, and at their waists were long tails, Lovino's red and orange like a goldfish, and Feliciano's bright green. Since their birth, they were as close as a shore was to the sea. But no one could have foreseen what would soon happen to Feliciano, not even his own brother... _

"Hey, Lovi! I found something!" Feliciano called.

"What is it, _fratello_?" his brother answered, annoyed. "You know that we're not supposed to be this far out! Come home before Nonno gets worried!"

"Just look! I promise we can go home right after!"

"Fine! But it had better be something good!" Lovino called as he swam over to his brother. Feliciano, at the moment, was smiling as he gingerly held something that you and I would have instantly recognized as a necklace, but to him was fascinating.

"Isn't it pretty?" the green-tailed merman said happily.

"I don't know...it looks weird. But then again, humans are weird." said Lovino, perusing it with his chartreuse eyes. The "thing" itself was a long silver chain with a black, cross-shaped charm on the end, which Feliciano was wondering at.

"I wonder whose it is?" the younger merman thought aloud.

"Doesn't matter. Let's go home, Feliciano." his brother replied, much to the distaste of the other.

"Okay, fine..." Feliciano said with a sigh as they both swam back home. Though, unbeknownst to his brother, little Feliciano held the necklace tightly in his hand as they swam away.

* * *

**AN: Okay, here's my third attempt at a fan fiction. I think this is my absolute best so far, and I hope there are others that think so as well. If you didn't look, this is a PrussiaxItaly Fanfic, so If you really hate the pairing, don't read. It's that simple. I already put the copyright disclaimer, so I don't think I need to put it on every chapter now, do I?**

**Please Review with Love **


	2. The Sea King's Sorrow

The castle of the Sea King was surely a beauty no human could have made. The sharp coral that made up its exterior was almost entirely occurring naturally, with very little parts moved or rearranged. Many creatures such as clams and starfish made their home on its exterior, and numerous fish swam through its large, lofty corridors. And it was those same grand halls that the two brothers swam through to see their grandfather once again.

Before going to see the king, Feliciano made an uber-quick stop in his room to drop off the necklace. If anyone here saw it, things would get disastrous. Thankfully, Lovino barely noticed as the two quickly started swimming in sync again.

"_Ciao!_ Where's Nonno today?" Feliciano happily asked one of the castle's attendants.

"The same place he always is, your highness." The dark-haired mermaid said wearily, casting her eyes down.

"_Grazie. _I was afraid of that..." the young merman replied as he and his brother went to their grandfather's room.

"Hi, Nonno." the two of them both whispered as they opened the gigantic door that led to the Sea King's room.

"Feliciano! Lovino! My two favorite grandsons! Come here and hug your Nonno!" The sea king said from his bed in the center of the room. The two mermen each gave him a hug, silently cheering the fact that he was still this jolly. For you see, the Sea King was powerful, but he was also dying. The kingdom had always known that he would reach the end of his life one day; merpeople live much longer than humans, but they die in a similar way. Aurelius had always been insecure about his age, insisting he was still young to the point where he had his sons call him Nonno, instead of "grandpa". When his grandsons weren't around, he unleashed the full brunt of his pain and misery, but he would not let his family see him as an old, weak man; he wanted to be remembered as a fine ruler. What he didn't know was that both Feliciano and Lovino knew perfectly well what he was going through, knew that each day might be his last. They could see it in his face, once handsome, now pale and crumbling, his beard unkempt and raggedy, his eyes squinted and teary.

"How's it going for you, Feli? Found me a nice princess yet?" Aurelius said, prompting a giggle and a red face from Feliciano. _It's like he doesn't even care that I'm here._ Lovino thought to himself as his Nonno seemed to only have eyes for his brother. Sadly, even while dying, he kept doing what is the bane of every family: he picked favorites. As the conversation picked up, leaving Lovino behind, the red-tailed merman stormed out of the room with all the anger that a graceful swimming motion could possibly produce.

Internally, Feliciano jumped for joy. Not at his brother leaving, no; now was the time for the stories. Stories of the human world, and more. The Sea King seemed to know about everything, and he would tell Feliciano of things on land; castles made of stone, flowers that each have a unique scent, and the great land-forests, filled with creatures that flew in it as fish swim through the sea

After a pause, the king asked "He's gone?"

"Yeah." Feliciano replied as he swam up next to his father's gigantic stone resting-place.

"Good. Now, what story would you like to hear today, _mio nipote_?"

A single question burned upon his lips. "Tell me what happens when we go away, Nonno."

Aurelius sat up, his face growing more somber to tell this tale. "Well, Feliciano, the ones who live underwater, like us, we can live for hundreds of years. It leaves us so much time, some don't know what to do with it all. But the humans, the land-dwellers, they live much shorter lives; to them, one hundred is ancient." he said, his time growing venomous at the word _humans. _"And yet, one could argue that they have it better, because when we die, we become foam on the ocean. The ocean once provided for us, but once our time comes, we will provide for the ocean." Feliciano was practically mouthing every word silently with him, but he dared not interrupt; he wanted to hear every story that his grandfather could tell before the king inevitably became foam.

"But the humans, they have a thing called a soul. And...they have a place called "heaven". Once they die, their souls will live on forever, in that place." Feliciano prepared for his favorite part of the story. "It is said that the halls of heaven are the color of the palest conch shells, that no one is sad there, and an endless bounty of food awaits everyone there." The younger merman looked down, his eyes glazed over. As one who lived under the ocean, he could hardly envision such a place, much less imagine going there. His Nonno's stories would be as close as he got. And he wondered...if humans were able to go to this place, how could they be that bad? Even if they made his parents go away?

"What's on your mind, Feli?" Aurelius said, snapping his grandson back to reality. "You got all weird for a moment there."

"No, I'm fine. Tell me the stories about the buildings up on land, Nonno." This story was very fascinating to Feliciano.

"Well, people on land have buildings like what we have down here, except they are much less beautiful, because they take from the earth and spoil it to create them, and we use existing coral and rock to make ours. But the humans' buildings go much higher..." Suddenly, the king broke into a coughing fit. It seemed his brief time of recovery was over. Feliciano quickly took his leave; his grandfather would have kicked him out soon enough anyways.

Just then, Michelle burst out from a far-off corridor, furious. "I've told you not to wear down the king like that! He's sick, Feliciano! You can't bother him like that anymore!" Seeing the prince's shocked face, she cleared her throat, remembered who she was talking to, and continued, "Excuse me, prince Feliciano. We are out of multiple supplies here in the castle, and as the attendants are busy, we would like you and your brother to go and buy more."

"Ok, I'll go get him!" the prince said cheerfully, followed by a call of "LOVI!"

"You could have just come to my room, you know." the disgruntled older brother said. "Or were you doing something so important with Nonno that you couldn't be bothered?" he continued. Feliciano sighed to himself; it's not that he was deliberately trying to exclude his brother from anything, but Lovino would never understand or care about the stories. Ever since their parents' death, he had become unable to listen to any talk about the surface without bursting into anger, which was certainly unbecoming for the heir to the throne.

"Oh, we were just talking...but we need to go to the marketplace, Lovi, there's things we need to buy." Lovino agreed; he really didn't have much of a choice anyways, as Feliciano was a real ditz when it came to these things. Or most things, for that matter.

* * *

**Off to the market! I wonder what will happen? **

**Ciao= Hello/Goodbye (but you probably knew that already)**

**Grazie= Thank you**

**Nonno= Grandfather**

**mio nipote=my grandson**


	3. A Chance Meeting

After 15 minutes of diligent swimming, the two brothers made it to the underwater market. Surprisingly, it resembled the traditional markets common to many human societies, but with gem-studded jewelry instead of clothes and squid and shrimp instead of beef and chicken. As the two passed through, it seemed that everyone said a bright hello to them both. Feliciano was, as always, being his unfocused, cheery self, while Lovino breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't have to suffer the pain of being ignored outside of his home.

"Ok, the next item on the list is sea cucumbers...Hey! Quit looking at the necklaces, you bastard!" Lovino yelled across the area to the younger merman, who was, as you could guess, much more involved in the gems than the task at hand. _And he was the one who told me we had to do this in the first place...typical dumb little brother. _He thought, swimming over to pull little Feliciano out of another situation. Before he could, though, he collided with a small merchild no taller than his own tail.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!" The older prince said.

"Hey yourself! If you're so high and mighty, why can't you get someone to do the swimming for you, Mr. Yells-out-obscenities-for-fun?" the child said harshly. At this, Lovino drew back quickly; who would dare insult one as esteemed as him, the heir to the throne, nonetheless? Looking down, he saw that the child was clearly a merman, with a dark brown tail, ash blonde hair and blue eyes comparable to the sky itself. He clutched at his chest a falling-apart brown bag that definitely had a sizable amount of items crammed into it. Surely, there couldn't have been anything of real interest inside, but our troubled merman prince couldn't help but feel...suspicious. He reached out and grabbed the end of the little merman's tail just as the latter thought he was off the hook.

"_Fratello! _Get over here!" Thankfully, Feliciano wasn't too far away and came at his brother's call. But as he came closer, he couldn't help but notice that the little boy in his older brother's arms looked very familiar...

"Hey, that's the Kirkland boy who's always stealing from people! He's a criminal!" Feliciano called out in realization. Yes, Peter Kirkland, the little boy charged for theft whom the royals had been trying desperately to catch for months. He had always evaded capture, until now.

"Do you know what I could do to you for this, boy?" Lovino hissed, purest poison in his voice as he held Peter in an iron grip. As the prince swam over to a secluded corner, Peter, realizing who he was dealing with, was struggling and squirming in the prince's arms, hell-bent on getting out of his clutches.

"Wait! If you let me go, I'll show you...an exploding sky flower!" Peter desperately called out, making Lovino stop in bewilderment and loosen his grasp.

"What in the name of the ocean is a bursting sky plant?...Or whatever you said." the confused prince said.

"No, an exploding sky flower! It always shows up in the sky this time of year! And if you let me go, I'll show you!" the little boy replied, managing to worm out of the red-tailed merman's grip and float in front of the two, still holding the overstuffed brown bag. "So what do you say? Let me show you?"

"It sounds beautiful! Sure, I'll-" Feliciano began, but was quickly stopped by a elbow in the gut from his brother.

"Think about this, Feliciano_. _He's a just a child spouting nonsense! Let's lock him up where he belongs." Lovino snarled, making an attempt to grab Peter again, but failing.

"How about we make a deal?" the young criminal wagered. "You come with me tonight, and I'll let you lock me up. Do we have a deal?"

"Hell no! Why should we, why should anyone, trust _you?_" Lovino shouted. Peter just started there for a few seconds, staring blankly. And that was when the crying came. Of course, no tears can be seen underwater, but one can still wail with the force of an angered great white shark; and that was exactly what the young boy did, still hidden in the corner of the marketplace.

"Hey, kid! _Shut up!_" Lovino harshly whispered, trying with all his might to keep his ordinarily loud voice down.

"We've got to give him what he wants!" Feliciano shouted in panic, cupping his hands over his ears and quietly wailing as Peter continued to rage on. In the crowd, a few heads started turning, and it wouldn't be long before they noticed the criminal.

"Fine! Show us your stupid whatever!" the older merman screamed, effectively drowning out every noise in the area. Everyone, it seemed, looked around for whoever had disturbed the cheery dynamic of the marketplace. Thankfully for the three, however, they were hidden in a corner by the carts and went unnoticed. Then, just as quickly as it had started, the thief's outburst ended.

"You agree? YAY!" the young merman squealed with glee, doing a celebratory backflip as any sign that he was just screaming his lungs out suddenly disappeared. "Just meet me here at 10:00 tonight!" he quickly uttered just before slipping away into the crowd again and going off to wherever he called home.

"Why couldn't he have just done that before?!" Lovino angrily wondered aloud.

"Well, now we've got somewhere special to be! Isn't that great?" Feliciano delightedly babbled as the two backed out from behind the carts and rejoined the crows.

"With that brat around, I'm not so sure." The older brother mused. "At least he won't be a thorn in Nonno's side anymore, not to mention mine. And now that that's over, let's get back to what we were doing." He continued, changing the subject.

"Feliciano?" Lovino inquired, noticing the now-absent space where his brother was. "Feliciano? Where are you?...HEY! Quit looking at the necklaces! You _bastard!"_


	4. The Sea Wizard's Plan

The young merman swam far away, and down, the same path he had taken many times before. Still holding the worn brown bag that, unbeknownst to the princes from before, held items practically necessary to his survival, he made the final descent into the lair of the disgusting, conniving, sea wizard. The cave that the deformed, dangerous creature had been banished to long ago. The home of his older brother.

"Peter? Is that you, love?" A sharp, cold voice rang on the cave walls, projecting all the way to the opening of the cave where the young boy floated.

"Yes, Brother." He uttered, any trace of the loud, outgoing boy that had once been within him disappearing.

"What's wrong? Are we nervous today?" The voice of the wizard came again, dripping fake, bitter honey. "Come in. The open ocean is no place for a little thing like you." he beckoned. _If only he knew, _thought Peter as he swam deeper into the dark, morbid cave. _If only he knew what I would give to be free from him. If only I didn't have to keep coming back to him... _At this thought, he ran his hand over his bare back, wondering if, just maybe,he could finally get some relief from the thingsthat had been ailing him for so long..._No. You mustn't do that. Big Brother says no. _He thought, his face twisting into a sour expression as his body was once again forced to go against what it wanted for the sake of what his mind told him. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the worst and swam the final stroke into the dwelling-place of the man he hated and yet owed his life to; Arthur Kirkland_._

"Have you brought what I need?" Arthur bluntly questioned from his throne-like chair in the center of the room, shrouded by darkness. Peter dropped the bag to the rocky bottom of the cave, glad he was finally free from its weight. It had contained secret ingredients Arthur deemed necessary to his "magic", but the boy neither knew what the contents were capable of nor cared. The one time he had ever dared to look into the cretin's spellbooks, he found a spell for killing someone. Definitely not the kind of hobby you would want the person you live with to be practicing regularly.

Presented with the bag, the sea wizard clicked his tongue and lectured, "Where are your manners, young man? You could at least hand it to me instead of just throwing my items onto the ground, you know."

"I'm sorry, brother." Peter whispered, casting his eyes downward as he prepared for the worst.

"Well, if it can't be helped..." Arthur said, as he swam down from his throne, revealing himself to the boy. At first glance, he looked like an ordinary merman, but closer inspection would reveal that this was far from the case. Oddly enough, this creature's appearance would first strike you as beautiful, even delicate, with his burgundy tail covered in creamy white stripes and what looked like lovely, elegant fins coming out of his back. The large fins on his arms started as one, but exploded into at least ten large spikes that flowed with the water as he swam. One may say that the human part of him was just as gorgeous; his short, yet wild, blonde hair and luminous green eyes, coupled with his British accent, would make most any human woman swoon, even though there were tentacles growing from above his eyes that rather resembled bushy eyebrows. But no merfolk would dare go near him for the same reasons. They knew that each of the delicate-looking fins on his back was in fact a gigantic, venom-filled spine able to cause vomiting, nausea, and even paralysis to its victims. They knew that the beauty in his fins and face were only a clever ploy, as his personality was not so beautiful. They knew that whenever he sang, dark curses sprang upon random innocents and fierce storms whipped whatever land was unlucky enough to be closest to him. They knew that he had been born as

_A Lionfish._

"Quit staring, boy, it's rude." Arthur quipped as he picked up the brown bag and quickly turned to his spellbooks. Peter still floated in the same place, begging silently that Arthur would remember to hold up his side of the deal this time...

"Oh." Arthur stopped mid-stroke in a bout of realization. "You need your special medicine again, don't you?" he questioned, glancing at Peter. The little person in question nodded, silently thanking Neptune that his older brother had remembered.

"Here you are, then." Arthur droned, swimming over to his potion rack and tossing Peter a vial of red liquid. Peter again said a silent prayer as he dared to once again touch the source of his discomfort: giant, blistering sores turning his back into a hellish landscape of pain. Thankfully, he had drank some of the medicine before going out to the marketplace, so neither of the princes had found out. Peter drank the remaining sips of the red liquid and almost immediately felt a wave of relief from the pain. Soon, the redness would go away too.

"You don't need to deny what you are, little brother. I think you'll make an adorable lionfish once your spines are all grown." the wizard said as he cooked up more of the red medicine. Peter shivered, unable to imagine himself one day looking like the abomination Arthur had become. At least he could ease the pain from the sores that his growing spines gave him. Arthur, however, had to make elixirs to reverse the effects of the venom inside his spines constantly attacking his body; being a lionfish wasn't a natural form for a merperson, so it came with many consequences.

Noting Peter's lack of response, the sea wizard decided not to make a fuss and continued, "So, have you gotten me any new clients?"

"Yes, big brother." the little boy replied.

"Well, spit it out, I don't have all day to waste." Arthur barked, still making more of Peter's medicine, which he was obviously not pleased about doing.

"Well...they were...Prince Feliciano and Prince Lovino...I think." Peter uttered, fearing his brother's reaction. At this statement, the sea wizard froze in place, dropping one of his ingredients to the floor. He stayed like that for a time, in pure disbelief.

"You're telling me...you got not one, but _two_ members of the royal family to want to strike a bargain with me?" he finally stuttered out, ever-so-slightly turning towards Peter.

"Yes?" Peter gave an unsure reply, not wanting to say that he had _technically_ only invited the princes out so as to give them a possible reason to want to make a deal with the sea wizard.

At that, Arthur suddenly torpedoed through the water, reaching Peter in about half a second. And believe me, a full-grown lionfish merman charging right at you is not something you want to see when you're already on edge.

"Do you know what this could do for me, boy? For us?" the wizard gushed, grabbing Peter by the shoulders and excitedly shaking him. "Imagine it! I'll go up to that crusty old king and say 'Let me back into your kingdom or I'll turn your grandsons into barnacles!' Or better yet, 'Surrender the throne to me or I'll make your grandsons my personal slaves and there's nothing they can do about it!'" he cackled, laughing maniacally. He looked at Peter with sickeningly sweet affection in his eyes and cooed, "Oh, Peter! Oh, sweet, darling boy! Feel free to sleep in the largest hole in the cave tonight!"

"But...you never let me sleep in the cave!" Peter gasped as he was pulled into a far-too-tight hug, made much more uncomfortable by Arthur's swaying arm fins.

"Then let this prove to you that I always reward those who help me." the wizard replied, some of the fake sweetness disappearing. "Now go." he continued, slowly swimming back to his potion-making corner. "And bring me my new clients." Peter certainly didn't have to be told twice.

* * *

**PLOT TWIST! oooo *ominous music plays***


	5. One Fateful Night

Back in the Sea King's castle, the two princes prepared to steal away into the night with Peter. They had both decided that no one in the castle would let them go off on their own at night, so the outing had to be made in secret.

"Lovi, I've never snuck out before...I'm scared...will it be ok?" Feliciano questioned from his room.

"I keep telling you, we'll be fine. Or at least, you'll be fine, as long as you stick with me." Lovino grumbled. Feliciano seemed content with this answer and diverted his attention to the necklace he had stolen-er, collected-from earlier. After a long decision process, the merman had decided not to take the necklace, deeming it too special to bring. Besides, what if the Peter boy stole it? The cheery prince laid on his comfy resting-place made of sponge and pearls, content with his decision, and sure that tonight would go swimmingly. Just before ten, the two princes stole away into the night, seen by no one.

Once at the marketplace, they noticed that Peter was there just as he said he would be.

"I guess he's not as much of a liar as I thought." Lovino said under his breath.

"See? You should trust people more, big _fratello_!" Feliciano chirped, swimming over to the little boy.

"Are you ready?" Peter asked.

"Yeah! Which way is it?" Feliciano answered, comically looking around.

"Up. Just keep going up."

"Wait! What do you mean, up? Are we going to the surface? Why didn't you tell us?" Lovino said, releasing a flood of questions.

"Well, you were the one who said you wanted to go, weren't you?" Peter called as he swam to the surface, laughing all the way. Feliciano quickly followed suit, and after a long pause, Lovino came behind them.

Feliciano swam up, his hydrodynamic arms cutting through the water. He was more fearful than he had ever been in his life, but he was determined. It was too late to turn back now, and if his brother was going to be hesitant, he would be the leader, just for tonight.

Air. It felt so cold and alien on the merman's face as he broke the surface of the water. The last time he went near the surface world had been on his sixteenth birthday, and that had happened years, possibly decades ago, given how long the average merperson's lifespan was. Slowly adjusting himself to breathing from his lungs instead of his gills, the young merman let his mind wander as he looked at the star-speckled night sky. In barely any time at all, Lovino and Peter emerged from the murky depths.

"Hey, it's right here!" The overly chipper Peter said to Feliciano, lightly tapping him the shoulder to make him turn around. And what was looming over the ocean behind them was certainly a sight to behold. It was giant, wooden, and many a loud noise came from its huge, exposed top. The more Feliciano looked at it, the more he thought it was familiar to him. And then it hit him-it was one of the things from Nonno's stories! The king had always told of things called "ships", that sailed on top of the ocean. And he was seeing one. How massive it was! How beautiful! The younger prince couldn't help swimming closer, making his brother reluctantly follow, along with Peter.

"Come on, let's grab onto that perch! We'll be able to watch from there!" Peter urged, pointing to a break in the railing that the mermen were just able to grab.

"Are you kidding me? What if they see us? They'll cart us off to our deaths!" The feisty Lovino replied.

"Oh, come _on_!" the boy replied, whining like the child he was. "You'd be surprised at how much humans can miss." After some more bickering between the two, of which Feliciano was blissfully left out of, Peter convinced the sulking Lovino to join the fun and watch the deck of the ship. And so, they took their secret position, able to see everything, yet hidden from sight.

It was the first time Feliciano had ever been this close to humans before. There was celebration in the air; he could hear their singing, and their laughter. They looked so strange to him, cloaked in fabric and dancing about on those awkward things called "legs" that his Nonno had told him about. He thought about how funny they were when they moved around, putting one leg in front of the other. However, it seemed that a crowd was gathered around one certain spot in the middle of the ship. Leaning forward, he could just notice two figures that everyone was standing around...

"Hey guys! You don't have to cluster, there's enough of me to go around!" A loud voice shouted from the middle of the group of humans. Suddenly, the crowd parted, and the two figures walked out, right into the mermens' line of view. They were two tall, muscular, very handsome men. One was a somber blonde, with eyes blue as rivers, muscles like boulders, and a cold, hard stare that could make the toughest soldier falter. In the crowd, he seemed awkward and didn't talk much, but was slightly intimidating nonetheless. His smaller, less buff counterpart, however, was the real oddity; he had skin so pale that it was nearly translucent, hair that matched his ivory skin, and his gaze was a piercing blood-red. Unlike the blonde, he was charismatic and made lively conversations with anyone who walked by, speaking in the same loud voice from moments ago.

"Who are they?"Lovino wondered aloud, stealing the words from Feliciano's mouth.

"Oh, they're princes, and brothers, just like you two! The one with the yellow hair is named Ludwig, and the one with the white hair is Gilbert, he's the older one. They're from a land far away, but they come here on vacation twice a year for their birthdays. I know, 'cause I saw one of their ships when I was really little, and I've come back ever since!" Peter explained.

_Gilbert...so that's his name_. Feliciano thought. Given that Ludwig's first impression on the merman was that he was scarier than a pack of starving great white sharks, he decided to direct his thoughts towards the cheery, extroverted older brother. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about the man that mesmerized him. He was a human, what must his life on land be like? Did he know of beings like Feliciano and his brother? Was he born with hair and eyes that color? And what on earth was up with that accent he had? Without noticing it, Feliciano had began to slump and rest his hands on his arms, a cutesy smile on his already adorable face.

"Feli!" Lovino hissed, snapping his brother back to reality. "Stop fantasizing about eating squid meat and hold on to the boat!" The younger merman then noted his weakening hold on the little perch and readjusted himself while a blush appeared on his face.

"They're going to set the sky flowers off soon!" Peter chirped, giggling with glee. The ship became a flurry of activity, with people setting up and preparing to light the "flowers". Minutes later, the fuses on them were lit, creating a heated trail.

"What is that coming off those things?!" Lovino gasped, watching the flames with both awe and fear.

"That's...a weird question. I don't _know_ what they call it. It's pretty to look at, though." Peter replied. Then, with a mighty shriek, the lit objects soared into the sky. The first one went up, exploding into eight long trails of white fire; and the booming sound that came afterwards nearly made the two princes jump off the boat. After many more explosions of every color of the rainbow, the three mermen present we're transfixed in awe. For a while, all they could do was sit there, staring up at the smoking sky.

"That was beautiful." Feliciano whispered.

"Yeah. It was beautiful." Peter uttered, more to himself than anyone else. And then a scream came from the ship. A scream of fear.

The flames came: huge and unrelenting. Unbeknownst to all, a few embers had landed on the wooden ship deck, where they had all they needed to become a roaring fire. And that is precisely what they did, causing utter chaos to ensue.

"What the hell is going on?!" Lovino yelled over the sound of the fire, as all three mermen swam away from the burning vessel.

"I don't know! This hasn't ever happened before!" Peter shouted, not lying for once. Meanwhile, Ludwig was leading the remaining humans to what was left of the rowboats. But as Feliciano took one last look back at the people he would never see again, he saw the lack of a face in the crowd, the only human face he truly cared about at the moment.

_Where was Gilbert?_

It was the only question on his mind as he blindly swam back to the flaming carcass that was the ship. It was the only thought that passed through him as he dove under the waves, hoping for something, anything, that would tell him his fears were unfounded. A speck of white on the corner of his vision immediately gave the answer. He darted towards the unconscious Gilbert, dodging the sinking, charred chunks of wood from what was once the ship. A moment of remorse was met when the body was reached; how could a young, thin merman hope to carry a tall, muscular human? But the wants of Feliciano's heart overrode this thought, and the human prince was carried, albeit somewhat awkwardly, to the surface.

Sadly, the rowboats were already nowhere in sight. Seeing a small beach, the merman decided to let the human down there. Gilbert was still out cold by the time he was laid down on the beach by his savior. The tired merman then decided to rest by the white-haired man's side, just for a little while, or as long as he could, whichever was longer. No doubt his brother was going mad looking for him by now. But before his brother found him, before anyone found him, he would seize the opportunity in front of him. Or, rather, the opportunity laying beside him.

It was the first time Feliciano had ever been this close to a human before. The man's face was so calm, so serene, that the merman's heart felt even lighter than it usually did. However, the fact the human's face was so calm was probably due to the fact that he was unconscious.

For all this, Feliciano never had the urge to check for signs of life; how would he know how to tend to a human body? As one would guess, he did not, and his gesture of compassion ended up as a merman awkwardly staring into the face of an unconscious human. To fill the precious time slipping away, little Feliciano touched his finger to Gilbert's palm. To his surprise, it was warm, yet wet from being in the ocean. It was like his own hand, except without the fins and webbed fingers. _I wonder, _the merman thought to himself, _what would I look like...without the fins? _Extending his fingers and holding Gilbert's hand in his own, he put his strange, conflicting feelings into a song. Now, it seems silly to us that he would do this, but to the merfolk, a song is a very powerful thing; and is used often to display strong emotion.

_Hey, I have a special place_

_How about we see it together?_

_If you come with me, _

_I'll make dinner there, _

_And we'll all have a great time!_

Suddenly thinking about what he just said, he continued:

_Hey, a little before_

_I'll have to bring you some air_

_So we can have a happy time!_

_Face over here a little more... _Gilbert still hadn't woken, which was starting to concern Feliciano. Still, he wanted to sing, and his voice grew ever louder.

_It doesn't matter how much we speak_

_The sky will clear up soon!_

_Let's look behind the rainbow!_

_A smile is like a miracle!_

_The sky, it looms above the two of us_

_Laying on a beach drenched in moonlight_

_And it finds us in a shining moment! _

After that, he stopped, embarrassed. Had he really just sang something so sweet and romantic? To a human? Only sirens did things like that, and he was just a merman.

Suddenly, a ray of light came from the back of the beach, making Feliciano rear back in shock and lose his hold on Gilbert's hand.

"Hey...who's out there?" A soft, female voice called. A woman came walking up the beach to where Gilbert and Feliciano were. The merman, thinking fast, rolled back into the ocean and hid behind a tall rock that jutted out of the water. From there, he could hear and take a peek at what was going on. Glancing out from his hiding place, he saw that the woman had long, curly blonde hair and mysterious violet eyes. In her hands was a strange cylinder with a beam of light coming from it, or, to use a human term, a flashlight. She was wearing a simple red nightgown; she had doubtless just been awoken by Feliciano's singing and had come to see what was happening. "Oh no…" she uttered, noticing Gilbert's unconscious form. She shined her light in his face, and the man slowly regained consciousness, a trail of salt water coming from his mouth as he coughed violently.

"Oh...Hallo, lady." The previously unconscious human said. "Hey, where did Ludwig go? And why am I all...sandy? Gross!"

"Um, I just found you out here…" The woman had decided to keep the singing she heard to herself. The man in front of her didn't seem to have heard it, and the voice that was singing sounded nothing like his.

"So, you saved me, lady? Well, the awesome me thanks you!" Gilbert replied, standing up by himself. "Hey, what's your name?"

"My...name?" the woman asked, switching off her flashlight. "It's Madeline." She was certainly apprehensive about giving a stranger her last name. Gilbert suddenly said "Well, Madeline, I have to look for my silly brother and our boat. Heh, it's rare that I ever get him out of trouble!" _Aw, he doesn't realize the boat is destroyed. _Feliciano thought from his hiding place.

"Wait, shouldn't we get you home...first?" Madeline started to say, before noticing that Gilbert was already running off, looking for Ludwig. "Okay...that was weird." She then walked off, back to wherever she came from. Feliciano, however, was left with the sobering fact that the man he rescued held no memory of him. How simple it would have been if a mere trace of his presence had been acknowledged! But here he was, forgotten, his song meaning nothing except to the woman he had carelessly called. Feeling dejected, he slipped back under the sea's surface, awaiting his brother's punishment. One could only imagine his surprise when he found Lovino's face inches from his once he dove under.

"Oh...eh..._Ciao, _Lovi! How are you doing?" The younger merman feebly babbled. However, his brother's face stayed still as stone and just as angry as ever.

"Don't _Lovi_ me, you sad sack. I saw you up there." The older merman quipped.

"You were up there?!" Feliciano asked, panic rising up inside of him.

"Yes. Some of us know how to _hide_ so no one _sees_ us. Unlike you, apparently. You just want to sing to your ugly little human. Don't even question it, I know it's true." Lovino continued, noting his brother's distress.

"I just wanted him to hear me..." Feliciano muttered.

"Well, it's not about what you want, it's about the good of our people! You're lucky that thing wasn't awake, or else you'd have had to explain yourself." the older brother spat.

"Hey, where did Peter go?" the younger brother asked with his last shred of dignity, desperate to change the mood of the conversation.

"Oh, that traitor? He left once I lost sight of you. I knew we couldn't trust that brat. Let's go home, Feliciano." the older replied menacingly. He then turned away and began to swim off towards the palace; it was clear the conversation was over, and would be for a long time. Feliciano dejectedly followed behind him. And so, the two swam away, with very different thoughts on each of their minds.

* * *

The young merman knew that only good would come of this. As he swam back to the sea wizard's den, he thought over the night's successes: first of all, the bratty, loud prince was so focused on his brother that he hadn't noticed the merboy escape. Him not going to underwater prison was certainly a plus. Not to mention, the younger, nicer prince literally couldn't take his eyes off that human. Certainly he'd want some magical help to communicate with the human world. Or maybe to be transformed into a siren, to seduce the man? Whatever the case, the boy's mission had been accomplished, and now there was nothing stopping him from using what little left of the night there was to take a well-deserved nap. And for once, it was inside Arthur's cave. Thankfully, the wizard in question was nowhere to be found, and the little one slipped into a peaceful sleep, unfazed by the lies he told that had long since lost their meaning to him.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Hello, everyone! It's been a long time! And what better way to welcome you all back than to have a long chapter? Yes, it's certainly the longest one by far. I just didn't think it would work well broken up. At least it was (hopefully) written well. And for those who don't know, the song that Feliciano serenaded Gilbert with is "Let's Look Behind The Rainbow" by Daisuke Namikawa. H****owever, ****I edited the words slightly. I wonder what will happen to Feliciano next?**

**Who am I kidding, you probably already guessed. I suppose that's the problem with writing fairytale-based fanfictions.**

**Please Review With Love**


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